Pirates of the Caribbean: Trail of 100 Lizards

The sea was angry that morning – like an old man returning soup at a deli. We left St. Thomas, taking the ferry over to St. John. While the rest of the families took a taxi to Caneel Bay, Bar Bar Jinks, GroovyDad, and sirloinofbeef elected to hike from Cruz Bay to Caneel Bay. As it happened our route went over Caneel and Margaret Hills, so it was good that we had prepared a sackful of summit Cheeseburgers for the hike.

The hike started out in a jumble of rum huts and sirloinofbeef and GroovyDad discussed whether 10 am was too early for a MaiTai, Cuba Libre or Planter’s Punch. It was, and we elected to wait until the hike was over. The hike was through solid jungle the whole way and it felt like it. We were sweating in the tropical heat. Bar Bar Jinks remained occupied by counting lizards on the trail – he saw over a hundred. After a slog up Caneel Hill we reached a nice little deck that provided views of St. Thomas, Tortola, and dozens of smaller islands in the Virgin Islands chain. Of course (did you need to ask?) we each enjoyed a Cheeseburger at the summit.

We descended from Caneel Hill to a saddle between Caneel and Margaret Hills. By now it was getting close to noon and the heat – well, it was hotter. A steep ascent up Margaret Hill brought us to a tiny clearing in the trees with no view of the surrounding seas. Another set of Cheeseburgers were quickly dispatched and the hikers continued down to Caneel Bay.

Most of St. John island is a National Park and Caneel Bay Resort lies within the park. Its beautiful beach was virtually deserted this day, as June is in the off-season. After wandering around the grounds, past some feral donkeys, we found the rest of our party. GroovyDad found a source of Plantation Punch (and a pineapple juice) – lifting our spirits and replenishing our depleted reserves.